PayPal casino sites

Published February 4, 2015Updated November 21 , 2017

In over 17 years of existence, PayPal has become the worlds most used and trusted online banking method for both individuals and businesses. So why isn’t it available to use for deposits at online casinos for players from most countries? We explain why the service currently is not available for online gambling sites, other than some UK-friendly casino sites.

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PayPal allows users to securely transfer money without ever having to share financial information and make transactions simply by entering an email address and password. It’s close affiliation with eBay is one of the reasons why it’s the most well-known online payment service around the world.

It’s the no fuss, no risk way of spending real money online, which makes it a fantastic choice for online gamblers. The catch is it is rarely presented as a banking option for Australians. So given all that it’s good for, why is PayPal rarely used by online casinos? And what alternative payment methods are there for real money gamblers?

What real money online casinos accept PayPal?

Not too long ago, PayPal was a popular payment method gladly used by Internet gambling venues, but now it’s near impossible to find an online casino, bingo or poker site that offers PayPal as an option for punters outside of the United Kingdom. It all comes down to the company’s strict regulations surrounding international licensing.

For example, Aussie gambling law restricts online casinos from operating within the country, making it not possible for foreign run venues to get PayPal approval for their Australian players.

Because of this, it’s easier for these internationally run casinos just to stick to alternative banking methods, like Netelller and Skrill, which are Web e-Wallets created specifically for the online gambling industry.

PayPal’s operation guidelines specify “the site operator and all of their customers must be located exclusively in jurisdictions where online gambling is allowed under local laws” and it is this specification which rules out PayPal as a deposit or withdrawal option for Aussie punters.

While it may not be advertised within the casino cashier, some sites will allow Australian’s to withdraw their winnings using PayPal upon request, but given the great alternatives, it really is not an issue players are restricted from using PayPal.

Alternative methods to gambling with PayPal

While PayPal may be the most recognised and widely used payment system on the Internet, thankfully it’s not the only one. There are many reputable e-wallet services working in a similar fashion to PayPal and with some designed exclusively for the online gambling industry, so punters certainly aren’t left in the dark when it comes to deposit and withdrawal options for virtual betting.

So although it’s unfortunate that players from most countries can’t use PayPal at our recommended casinos, there are many more great banking methods available, all which utilise the same high standards of security.

These payment options are just as quick and safe as PayPal, so players still enjoy the experience of gambling online for real money without any inconvenience caused by the lack of this option.

History of PayPal

PayPal has become one of those synonymous words we associate with the Internet without giving a second thought to what it means or where it came from. Like YouTube and Google which have found their way into the common lingo (“I’ll Google it” or “just YouTube it”) so will any avid online shopper be all too familiar with the sentence “I’ll just chuck it though PayPal.” But twenty years ago, this would have been a sentence which made literally no sense to anyone.

PayPal’s roots were planted in 1998 when the company’s first web wallet service was founded, allowing encrypted information to be stored virtually so handheld devices could double as digital wallets. At the time the service was called Confinity and was restricted to use on Palm Pilots and PDA’s only. It wasn’t until October 1999 when PayPal was born, an additional Confinity service which allowed people to make payments via email and such was the desire to spread the word of this innovative new software the company offered users $10 free just for signing up.

By March 2000, PayPal boasts one million users, forges a partnership with eBay and X.com officially changes the entire company name to PayPal to match its most lucrative product. Over the next decade PayPal goes through all the ebbs and flows to become the everyday worldwide banking service we know and love today. The company exploded globally, payments were introduced in every leading currency and fraud protection became even stronger, making PayPal the preferred online payment method for suppliers and customers across the globe.

Today, PayPal is available in over 100 currencies across 203 markets and boasts 162 million digital wallets globally. In Australia alone, there are over 5.6 million active PayPal users and worldwide, over 9.3 million payments are processed by PayPal on a daily basis. PayPal is now available in full mobile form, enabling payments to be sent securely via iPhones, iPads, Android, BlackBerry and other smartphone and tablet devices.

It’s too soon to say whether it will become a payment option at online casinos, but for now we are more than happy with the alternatives, like Skrill and Neteller which are equally safe and secure.

We recommend checking out Bovada Casino, our top-rated casino site for players from United States, which has some excellent welcome bonuses available for new players along with hundreds of real money casino games to choose from, with several instant payment methods available.